Gaol's Final Wish
by Danny Henderson
Summary: Clan Nutsy took the mission to Salika Keep, but Lini decided to take matters into his own hands.


[Okay, this is a tribute to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. This is a tribute to a side quest that I believe could used some nice depth in it. It had a great potential, so I ran with how I perceived things yet remained true to the game.]  
  
[For those that played Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, remember Quests 032 to 036. That is the Hero Gaol story. Lini is a secret character in the game, and I decided to have the scene take place in quest 034.]  
  
[This is my first fanfic, game on.]  
  
  
  
Moonlight cascaded down the keep that was perhaps in its former glory. Various stairs lead past the moss-filled rocky planes, with a moat flooding the side-way. Bridges are at the side, still creaking from the bitter cold wind. Two flags set at the side, whipping outward from the harsh conditions. And the metallic weathervane set to the top, shaped like an eagle, has its wings rolling along to reveal the intensity of the wind.  
  
From the south came a mass of footsteps, revealing six adventurers. A Soldier dressed in the blue inform, bearing the Chirijiraden sword. Another was a numou in a white robe with red triangular edges, carrying a large green striped staff. Following the two was a bangaa dressed in a blue shirt, and a pair of baggy pants. The band step away as two inviduduals approached the end. One is a pink moogle dressed in a green long-sleeved shirt. The next one is a young boy, dressed in a blue shirt with armor plates to the side, as well as a pair of leather shorts, laced with knees long leggings and a thin boots. The blond haired boy would seem to be the leader of the pack.  
  
The blond haired boy looked over the pink moogle, "Montblanc, this is it, right?"  
  
Montblanc responded, "I believe so, Kupo. This is where the keeplord of Salika invited brought both Lini and Gaol to their deaths, but only Gaol was the one slain, Kupo."  
  
Marche looked over to the back of the row, tilting his head over, "Lini...?"  
  
A little bit far from the crew is a moogle particularly dressed differently than the other knights. Arrayed on the body is a plate of armor, bearing a cloth in front that is embroided with a blue cross. The shorts are barely seen from the feet, given he is wearing a pair of violet boots. Hanging across his side is a blue shield with a sparkling silver paint to represent the cross and a pair of angelic wings underneath. The white furry creature is gazing away from the travelers, pointing a blue bladed weapon to the ground. "...."  
  
~ Gaol, Kupo. You brought me from being a kupo cowardly shepherd to a brave knight, like you. ~  
  
Remembering the day that Gaol was slain by the keeplord, who rammed his hand through the Paladin's armor, ripping the heart while he stole the Ayvuir Red blade. In respect of Gaol, after the lordkeeper left, Lini buried the body of Gaol, then he took the Ayvuir blade. "I'm not worthy of the blade.. Someone else is, whoever obtains it." So he took the blade to Eluut Sands.  
  
With the memory fading away, Lini gazed over at the two, then he lifted the Ayvuir Blue from the ground. Somehow, Marche thought he was worthy of carrying it. Maybe he could become like Gaol and continue his path.  
  
"Away from my love," said a chilling deep voice. From the fabric of reality, a form appeared from at the northern top of the Salika Keep. The figure had slick black hair running down to the front of the pale blue skin. He was clothed in a white robe, the claws extended out to gesture towards Clan Nutsy. "Come soldiers, destroy them..." With that, he reached beneath the robe, unsheathing a bright red blade. Several footsteps staple over quickly as various figures show up. At the northeast end at the top is a moogle dressed in a lavender robe and a long red hat with a yellow star to the middle. By the vampire approaches a human dressed in a white robe with red triangular edges. Emerging from the waters are two bangaas dressed in blue armor, helmets covering their eyes and the rest of their face.  
  
Quite bewildered by the turn of event, Lini stared at the crimson blade. "...Ayvuir Red, kupo. The second part of the twin Ayuir, Kupo!"Hazel eyes of the Mog Knight lit in anger as he saw unworthy vampire wield the crimson blade from his slain best friend.  
  
Erupting the vile atmosphere was a eardrum beating whistle. Through the ripple in reality's gate, the present form of a large man upon a large chocobo appeared at the middle right corner. The armored man gazed at the two group that were prepared to engage, booming with a regal tone, "Rules: No Blades will be used, nor will there be anyone under the berserk or haste status! Do I make myself clear?"  
  
Marche gazed back towards the judge, then directed the gaze at Lini, who was prepared to draw his blade and engage in his fight against the keeplord. While he smiled, he stated, "Yes, we got it." At the same time, he reached to his pouch, both index and middle finger tighten around something.  
  
Taken back, Lini's tiny fist clutched the Ayvuir Blue. He snarled at the judge, "You never showed up before Gaol's death, kupo! Why should you enforce these kupo rules now!?" He thought to himself, ~This makes no sense, kupo...~.  
  
Holbin, the soldier, grunted while folding both arms, "We'll lay waste to them." He stepped his right foot forward, then unfolded his arms, pointing the blade at the Defenders, "I'll bust through them. Hey Nabkov, prepare your white magic."  
  
The nu mou white mage nodded solemnly, "Very well."  
  
"We'll rip their ssssory tailsss apart!" That little outburst came from the bangaa monk, Chad, who stepped his right leg forward while drawing both hands in front.  
  
Montblanc gazed over at Marche, "What are you planning to do, Kupo?"  
  
"You'll see, Montblanc. The rules for this are not good, besides, this is where Gaol is supposed to rest in peace."  
  
"Get ready, fight!" uttered the Judge after he blew the whistle. He stood at the sidelines, awaiting to see what happened in the battle.  
  
"I draw the Almighty Anti-Law card!" From that signal, Marche rose his left hand into the air, letting the card loose from the grip of the two fingertips. The card spinned in the air, glowing with a radiant blue aura. A ripple from the card erupted as it bursted into the abyss.  
  
Taken back and rather fustrated, the Judge shifted his gaze at Marche irritedly. However, he knew that he could not do a thing, since all of the laws were negated. He was there to only enforce the laws, not make them.  
  
Marche gazed back at the Judge with a serious gaze, "You didn't show up to prevent Gaol's death, why do you wish to enforce the laws here now?"  
  
The Judge paused at first, taken back with Marche's rebuttal. When the silence died down, he explained, "We were not fully established yet, we couldn't do a thing about it." He lowered his head, "I will not interfere, but only be a spectator." He was somewhat relieved that the weight of duty was lifted by the Almighty Anti-Law card.  
  
Quite pleased with the laws removed, the Mog Knight rose his blade towards the air, "Gaol! I will avenge you, kupo!" Taking off from the left leg, he immediately charged towards the fight to reach the Lord Ghost.  
  
Marche was taken by surprise at the charging mog knight, "Lini, wait! Do--" But he knew it was too late, so he directed his gaze at the nu mou, "Nabkov, cast..."  
  
"Right ahead of you, sir." Nabkov rose his right hand to the air, forming a white glow, which radiated his face and all around the light. "Auto-Life!" He threw the ball towards Lini, who was running. When the ball impacted with Lini, the moogle glew with a white aura, and briefly grew angelic wings before it disappeared entirely.  
  
The two defenders gazed at the moogle. One of them said, "Heh, there is Gaol's side-kick with Clan Nutsy. Now that the rules are gone, let's get rid of them."   
  
The other one said, "First the moogle that's in the way." With that said, the two defenders stood in front, awaiting the charging moogle. Of course, that was until Holbin and Chad came from both sides to take care of the other side, Holbin channeled his ki, drawing his right hand forward as a focal point. Then, he pushed his hand outward, releasing a burst of air to send the first defender back. From the other side, Chad made a leap across the moat, spinning while extending his right leg at the back of the second defender's head, forcing him to fall into the lake.  
  
The time mage gazed at the charging moogle, "Sir, shall I stop him in place, kupo?" He lifted his hand into the air, murmuring a few encantations while a yellow glow pulsed from the palm.  
  
"Let him pass, I want to slay the associate of Gaol, and take the other half of the Twin Ayvuirs. The blade seeks its partner, and I will be its new owner. My love will be so happy.." The vampire beared his fangs, snarling at the prescence of the moogle, Lini. When he directed his gaze at the human white mage, "Alvyn, protect the men with your magic."  
  
Alvyn nodded, then he waved his hand around, drawing a ray of light to capture within the hand. He lefted the hand towards the sky, then directed it towards both towards the Lord Ghost, engulfing him with a golden aura.  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, Montblanc placed his index finger to the air, emitting a thunderbolt to dance into his grasp, "Marche! Take care of the Time Mage!" Then, he sent the bolt towards the air. From above the clouds emitted a flash of light, before a thick band of voltage licked the atmosphere, surging down to engulf the white mage in heavy voltage, which caused Alvyn to collapse into unconsciousness.  
  
Marche sprinted over towards the Time Mage, who was still channeling his time mage. Unfortunately for Marche, the Time Mage decided to direct the spell towards him. "Stop, Kupo!" The Time Mage sent his right hand forward, sending a ball towards the ground where Marche was running. As soon as Marche stepped on that spot, runes flew across his form as a giant crimson clock appeared. The clock's large hand ticked slowly, until it came to a stop. Once the clocked stop, Marche was left at his pose, trying to run at the time mage.  
  
A roar of laughter came from the Time Mage, "Hahahahaahaha, kupo! Do you think that you can beat me!? I'm Kalvec, the Time Mage King! I bend time to my will, I can slow time, speed up time, and kupo my way to stopping you on your tracks! Hahahahaha!" His laughter came to an end as a large blue globe appeared behind the moogle, creating a loud burst upon finishing formation.   
  
A heavy splash roars from the sphere's explosion, causing the moogle to roll along the ledge, before landing into the water with a loud splash. The water spell came from the nu mou white mage, who decided to demonstrate his powers as a sage. Nabkov drew his right hand back, then he released a breath at the steaming palm, "I figured that would silence you."  
  
Leaping against each high platform, Lini readied his blade to put the ghost into final rest. "Gaol, the Twin Avyuirs will be reunited, Kupo." Finally reaching the ledge, the Mog Knight landed about ten feet away from the keeplord.  
  
The ghost of the keeplord gazed at the moogle with blood-stained orbs, a fanged grin escaping the lips. "You wish to join Gaol, I'll make it appearant, and give this Avyuir Red a reason to be red!" His form vanished from thin air, reappearing behind Lini. He swung the blade at a horizontal arc towards Lini, but it was deflected as Lini caught the intention, turned around and swung the blade upward. Lini leaped into the air, using the momentum gathered from the earlier deflection, then lashed the blade across the keeplord's chest, who meets the blade with the flat of his weapon. He lunged forward to continue the dance of the blades, both swords sparking as they meet within their melee. Lini leaped over towards the vampire, rolling forward as he swung the blade towards the keeplord's head. The keeplord deflected the double slash given by the roll, then he reached his free hand to grab the moogle by the neck and slammed him against the wall like a whip.  
  
"Stupid moogle..." The Keeplord bore his fangs, lunging forward to bite Lini across the neck as he kept him pinned to the wall, but Lini countered by biting him across the hand, causing the restless spirit to howl in pain while the knight escaped. Lini ran past the keeplord to gain some distance. He drew the sword to the air, gathering the air around him to form against the blade. He thrusted the sword outward, lunging a kinetic lance towards the vampire's heart.  
  
"Ugh! You grow to be an annoyance!" He then spotted Marche and the others that were drawing closer to him, "Those that get involved with this fight will die." With that said, he extended both hands into the air, heat formed from his grasp. "Flare!" Both hands slammed against his waist, causing part of the Keep's structure to collapse by the exploding flames. Not only that the structure was rendered to ruins, but Holbin, Nabkov, and Montblanc were knocked back from the flaming spheres, rendered unconscious.  
  
  
  
Marche gazed over towards his fallen allies, "Montblanc! Nabkov! Holbin!" Marche gave the Keep Lord a glare, and was ready to draw both Excalibur and Save the Queen from their respective sheath, until he thought otherwise, "...This is Lini's fight." He turned away to tend to the fallen friends with phoenix downs.  
  
"My friends..." Lini shook his head, then he drew both hands forward, shutting his eyes as he focused his energy. A large, translucent shield manifested in front of him but soon faded away. The knight glew with a yellow aura, then he gazed at the keeplord, "...You'll burn in Hell for this."  
  
"I think not, you little insect." He snarled as he formed a few yellow globs in his palm. He then tossed it towards the moogle, covering him with the bacteria substance, "This will drain your body fluids, just as it did Gaol." Lini tried to fight the substance from gathering along him, but they burned against his fur like acid. It eventually subsided, then the moogle glared at the vampire.  
  
"What!? You're supposed to be poisoned!" States the angered Keeplord.  
  
"It's a technique to prevent you from poisoning me called Mog Shield, kupo." The moogle charged at the ghost, the dance of the blade arced every corner from different directions, until he finished the assault with a forward stab. The keeplord smacked the blade at a far distance from the moogle, before he lunged his hand towards the moogle's chest. The vengeful keeplord dug his hand through the chest, trying to tear apart the moogle's heart. It was a repeating cycle that Gaol went through.  
  
However, there was a dramatic difference. As the keeplord continued to pull, a light emitted from the moogle's open wound, luminating a blinding brightness to repel the keeplord from tearing the heart out.  
  
Lini was quite thankful to keep his life, but he was still weaken. At the process of his weakened state, he fell to his knees, then gazed at the ghost. "You will be vanquished, kupo! I trained too kupo hard in place of Gaol to lose to you!" As he snarled, his body glew with a crimson aura, followed by a translucent red clock to appear above him, the big hand turning faster. When the clock disappears, Lini quickly dashed towards the Ayvuir Blue, picking it up with a roll. Following the roll, he immediately stood to his feet, and begun sprinting at the keeplord.  
  
"...Foolish whelp!" He swung the blade at the haste affected knight as Lini lashed out his blade to strike the keeplord. Both fighters zoomed past each other. The flare casted earlier erupted, sending chunks of the stone structure to land into the water. Both warriors pause in a classical final cut, before the small moogle collapsed towards the ground.  
  
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" The keeplord gazed at Lini with his blood red eyes, flaring as his fangs beared. "You are weak! You will join Gaol!"  
  
Marche decided that it was enough, "I'm sorry Lini, but I won't let you die!" Marche begun to run at the keeplord, until he was caught by the crimson gaze. The restless spirit lifted his hand in the air, forming the bacterial substance, then he released it at Marche, "Sit down, boy!" The chemicals ate against Marche's armor like acid, bringing him down to his knees. As if things were not bad enough, his skin tone changed to a sickly green hue.  
  
"No, kupo!" Lini gazed at his leader's suffering, looking away with shame. His eyes glanced upon the Ayvuir Red, then he looked at the Ayvuir Blue, the very sword that he wielded. "..I failed, Gaol, Kupo." Tears ran across the muzzle, then splattered to the ground til it became a light puddle.  
  
The keeplord floated towards Lini, smiling viciously. "You're weak, and you'll die like Gaol. I will take the blue blade and Evelyn will love me... She will love me! Not Gaol! But me!" He stretched his hand from the robe, reaching for the blue colored blade.  
  
~ You're my best friend, you know that Lini? ~  
  
~ Kupo, you're my best friend too. I'm glad you took me out of the solitary life of being a shepherd, kupo. ~  
  
The voices in Lini's mind date to a more youthful year, but it was a memory that he treasured the most. "...Ku...po..!" He tightened the grip on the blade, before he swung it outward while launching into the air, cutting a deep wound into the keeplord. Tears flew as the moogle thrusted his body, until he landed at a close distance. Fury in his eyes, Lini bore his tiny fangs with a shout, "I hate you, kupo!" A kinetic charge glimmered with the blade, then he lifted it into the air. "I'll make sure that you are sent to the kupo abyss! For Gaol, Ultima Charge! Kupo!"  
  
"You pathetic..." His words came to an interruption as Lini planted the sword against the ground. With contact, the blade sent off a resonating gust of wind to circle around it. A blue spark emitted from the blade, causing it to grow as it ate through the atmosphere. The dome expanded, sending electrical lines around its form. The bright light from the dome's growth covered the vampire, before the dome gave off a violent explosion. The impact of the explosion devastated the last of the Salika Keep's top structure.  
  
Through all of this, the Judge kept watch, then he murmured, "Rest in peace, Gaol. You've been avenged, great hero." He gave a solemn bow, before he pressed his spurred feet against the chocobo, then the form faded from sight.  
  
Nabkov kneeled beside Marche, treating him of the poisoned condition. His hands glew with a sparkle, "Esuna!" He sent the sparkle that shined like a fairy's tear down at Marche. His skin tone returned to a pale-white complexion.  
  
"Thanks, that felt better." He looked over at the carnage, "Lini!?" The entire top structure of the Salika keep was devastated. Rubble were scattered all over the terrain, leaving Lini at the far end on the ground.  
  
"...I did it Gaol, kupo." He looked at the blade that stood in front of him, the crimson blade. "...Avyuir Red, kupo." He reached towards the blade, grabbing the hilt. Upon touching the hilt, tears fell from his cheeks. "I'll honor your spirit my helping Clan Nutsy, kupo." He gazed at the recovering party from his fallen state, "...I will be ready in a while. I just need to rest, kupo." With that, he rested his head, then shutted his eyes. "...Best friends forever, kupo." 


End file.
